What Is The Best Coolant For You ?

Sumiya · August 5, 2010

Hi Guys

Just wanted to know the best Coolant as yours opinion ,

i am using ABRO but don't know how it is ?

thanks

Regards

sumith

MkX · August 5, 2010

I am using some chinese one. Green colour. No issues so far.

Uditha88 · August 5, 2010

MkX said:
I am using some chinese one. Green colour. No issues so far.

No issue in the sense??

Hmm.. My opinion is very hard to find the quality of a coolant. U think that u don't have any issue but U

don't know it really does the job. U know even water will do the job inside radiator n cooling system but we use coolant(Anti freeze) to

change the nature of the coolant & make it more heat absorbed and not getting freeze in cool condition(Cool countries. Not in SL).

corrosion protection is another advantage we expect from coolant(This is what we really want in country like SL. Not anti-freezing). But very hard to measure 1st property I mentioned above

and so that always better to buy famous brands though expensive. Else u may buy water with some coloring.

Pls suggest good brands for benefit of all.

Edited August 5, 2010 by Uditha88

Watchman · August 5, 2010

What coolant does is if i'm not mistaken raises the boiling point tempreature and redices the freezing tempreature. Water too would do the job no doubt.

But personally i'm not sure if rust is that big an issue.

Edited August 5, 2010 by Dilesh

Ripper · August 5, 2010

Dilesh said:
What coolant does is if i'm not mistaken raises the boiling point tempreature and redices the freezing tempreature. Water too would do the job no doubt.
But personally i'm not sure if rust is that big an issue.

yeah...i don't use water simply because of the whole rust issue and the possibility of mineral deposits in the long run...

was using Wurth radiator coolant for a long time and then switched to one that's made locally...royal super or something and it's available at most supermarkets...

It's tough to judge what truly works but at this moment i have Caltex premixed coolant in the cooling system...

just found it easy to top up when needed and i like the label of the can

Elvis_Pil · August 5, 2010

IMO any decent brand will work just fine- provided you mix it in the right ratio and periodically change it. I try to do this at least annually. Currently using a mixable product from MAC Lubricants. Previously used the Caltex, BP pre mix and the Wurth Green stuff and never had an issue.

Watchman · August 5, 2010

I think i'll go read up on coolants.... (veeeery slow day at work today.. hehehee)

maliths · August 5, 2010

Dilesh said:
What coolant does is if i'm not mistaken raises the boiling point tempreature and redices the freezing tempreature. Water too would do the job no doubt.
But personally i'm not sure if rust is that big an issue.

Dilesh is right about raising the boiling point and lowering the freezing point. But the coolant also has a lot of rush inhibitors which help keep the corrosion down to a minimum. In a county like SL using water would be just fine but you will still have the rust issue (water can be very corrosive on the internals of the engine). So using a good coolant with rust inhibitors will certaily help keep the corrosion inside the engine to a minimum.

Now which coolant is best is quite a hard question to answer unless some one has actually tried many types of coolant and compared them. Its safest to go with a well known brand as you can be assured that they have done the reasearch and developed the product. Buying some cheap coolant you risk buying something completetly useless which could be no more than a coloured liquid.

Sumiya · August 5, 2010

maliths said:
Now which coolant is best is quite a hard question to answer unless some one has actually tried many types of coolant and compared them.

Hi Maliths

True, what it made me to ask this question was that one day i got a smelling from engine bay ,while i was climbing Radella

that time my engine temp also was a bit higher than normal,so i realized that smell was from coolant and it was bringing tears also down. that is ABRO

just wanted to know whether this is a good or bad product by guys experience

thanks

Regards

sumith

Ripper · August 5, 2010

Sumiya said:
Hi Maliths
True, what it made me to ask this question was that one day i got a smelling from engine bay ,while i was climbing Radella

that time my engine temp also was a bit higher than normal,so i realized that smell was from coolant and it was bringing tears also down. that is ABRO

just wanted to know whether this is a good or bad product by guys experience

thanks

Regards

sumith

i dont think abro is a bad brand...

there must be some other reason that made your car heat up in the first place...and unless there was some sort of a leak somewhere...i don't think you can "smell" coolant... and if you were in the car when you had this tear jerking moment...maybe there is a coolant leak from your heater core...

AL998 · August 5, 2010

As most of the replies mentioned Coolant does two major things Changes the boiling point/Freezing point and Prevent any potential rust issues .

Quality (Boiling & freezing points) of the coolant is simple to determine by using a coolant tester .

There are two type of testers

1. Hydrometer type (Similar to battery acid tester ) ,This is very cheep and any decent garage should have one

2. A device checks the visibility trough liquid and determine the quality of coolant (this is bit more expensive )

Still above tests will not check the anti rust qualities of the liquid .

Hope this helps

MkX · August 5, 2010

Uditha88 said:
No issue in the sense??
Hmm.. My opinion is very hard to find the quality of a coolant. U think that u don't have any issue but U

don't know it really does the job. U know even water will do the job inside radiator n cooling system but we use coolant(Anti freeze) to

change the nature of the coolant & make it more heat absorbed and not getting freeze in cool condition(Cool countries. Not in SL).

corrosion protection is another advantage we expect from coolant(This is what we really want in country like SL. Not anti-freezing). But very hard to measure 1st property I mentioned above

and so that always better to buy famous brands though expensive. Else u may buy water with some coloring.

Pls suggest good brands for benefit of all.

Name of the brand says LICHI it's bright green formula my father use similar identical liquid and it says Turubo 1. Both cans says not to dilute. I used this for about 4 months now, didn't noticed any discolouration / dint wanted to top-up still.

Sumiya · August 6, 2010

Ripper said:
i dont think abro is a bad brand...
there must be some other reason that made your car heat up in the first place...and unless there was some sort of a leak somewhere...i don't think you can "smell" coolant... and if you were in the car when you had this tear jerking moment...maybe there is a coolant leak from your heater core...

Hi Ripper

Thanks mate,Yes Actually there is a little drop of coolant when the engine is hot through the heater hose clamp, and bit from thermostat cover

It has been a hobby of mine to go up country journey once or twice per year with my old classic sunny, it is fun drive

i don't bother about heat up,since you can't except 40 yrs old classic,with there are 4 people together with lot of things inside the trunk and 76.5 C thermostat on it without any electric fans etc to run on the normal temperature for such a hill climb

i am proud of it, has been such a reliable car, that had never put me on the road ever in my life

thanks

Regards

sumith

Kavvz · August 6, 2010

Ripper said:
....and i like the label of the can

This wouldn't be a case of the monkey admiring his own tail now would it?

Ripper · August 6, 2010

Kavvz said:
This wouldn't be a case of the monkey admiring his own tail now would it?

not really! i've designed labels from them long years ago...not any more

Kavvz · August 6, 2010

Ripper said:
not really! i've designed labels from them long years ago...not any more

lolz! Haven't seen the Caltex coolent label but I googled the Sarva advertising agency since you mentioned their work-And some of the campaigns they've worked on have been quite good....

Edited August 6, 2010 by Kavvz

Ripper · August 6, 2010

Kavvz said:
lolz! Haven't seen the Caltex coolent label but I googled the Sarva advertising agency since you mentioned their work-And some of the campaigns they've worked on have been quite good....

don't work there machang...

i was at a design house when i left college and started work in this field... did some work for caltex at the time...

now for over 7 years i've been with another company... not sarva

shanX · August 6, 2010

Am using cheap green STR...

Devinda_Z · August 6, 2010

AL998 said:
As most of the replies mentioned Coolant does two major things Changes the boiling point/Freezing point and Prevent any potential rust issues .
Quality (Boiling & freezing points) of the coolant is simple to determine by using a coolant tester .

There are two type of testers

1. Hydrometer type (Similar to battery acid tester ) ,This is very cheep and any decent garage should have one

2. A device checks the visibility trough liquid and determine the quality of coolant (this is bit more expensive )

Still above tests will not check the anti rust qualities of the liquid .

Hope this helps

enlightening post

been using the BP pre mix - hard to really quantify or determine if its "good" per se

Kavvz · August 6, 2010

Ripper said:

don't work there machang...

i was at a design house when i left college and started work in this field... did some work for caltex at the time...

now for over 7 years i've been with another company... not sarva

Oh sorry! Didn't mean to imply that you did. "I googled the Caltex print ads and got Sarva. Wasn't familiar with company and therefore googled some of their stats up. For a small startup they seem to be doing really well, especially in the Sinhala ad market"...is I suppose what I should have said

Edited August 6, 2010 by Kavvz

KasunCharya · October 1, 2014

Is Havoline XLI coolant from Caltex good for petrol engines? Please mention pros and cons if there are any.

kmeeg · October 1, 2014

On 10/1/2014 at 2:19 PM, KasunCharya said:
Is Havoline XLI coolant from Caltex good for petrol engines? Please mention pros and cons if there are any.

I guess coolant is not a complected thing right? (Pls let me know if i'm wrong). Only thing i don't use is water to my radiator. The one i use was "Toyota Pre-Diluted Super Long Life Antifreeze/Coolant" for Toyota and non Toyota vehicles (All petrol engines). I didn't find any rust in radiator and the temp gauge was always in normal temp in long trips too. I normally buy this from Laughs at Dematagoda. I can't remember the exact price but as of i can remember it was a average price tag.